Full Disclosure: I’m a Texan, born and raised. I grew up on a black angus cattle ranch. While I didn’t exactly grow up “riding and roping broncos,” I did grow up working cattle, mending fence, and fixin’ windmills. Let it be known that the only prominent member of my family not from Texas was fondly known as “That Damn Yankee” (he was from Massachusetts) by certain members of my clan right up until his dying day.
After graduating high school, I followed the Chisholm Trail (and beyond) in my ‘82 Volvo 240 to attend university in Missoula, MT. (The movie “A River Runs Through It” had been released the summer before, but I swear that’s not why I went there!) As I encountered more and more people not of the Texas persuasion, one common complaint continued to rise to the surface: “What’s up with that stupid slogan, ‘Don’t Mess with Texas?’ It makes me want to mess with Texas even more!”
For the benefit of all y’all who have never been blessed (or cursed) to live for an extended amount of time within the borders of Texas (America’s Southern Neighbor), allow me to explain the central tenet of Geo-centrism and how it applies to pretty much everything you hear from the mouths of Texans. Before we start, just remember this one key thought: It’s about us, not you.
So here’s the skinny. The slogan, “Don’t Mess with Texas” was actually a geo-centrist environmental statement aimed at rednecks and ranchers who couldn’t stop throwing their garbage in their truck beds. As most people could probably ascertain without performing the experiment, when driving anywhere from 35 MPH to 65MPH, any attempt to throw a Styrofoam cup from the driver’s window into the truck bed will result in said cup ending up on the side of the road 9 out of 10 times.
But dammit all, we Texans are a determined people. So that one-out-of-ten chance only encouraged us to beat the odds. I’m certain the leading cause of truck-related, traffic accidents throughout Texas in the 80’s was directly tied to focusing on Styrofoam cups dancing on the wind in the rearview mirror when attention should have been affixed on the road.
Anyway, all of this to say, if you’re not from Texas you can let it all go. You no longer have to carry the anger and agitation inside. “Don’t Mess with Texas” was never meant for you. Heck, as an outsider you can mess with Texas all you want. Our beef isn’t with you. We essentially don’t even know you exist. Never have, never will. Texans don’t much care about the happenin’s beyond the border. We live by the Texas Way where trucks are “Texas Tough.”
When the phrase, “Don’t Mess with Texas” was coined I’m sure those responsible never conceived of non-Texans having an opinion on the matter. Why would they? Who are they? Sure, I’ve got a crazy uncle living somewhere up north, but he’s just as likely to be the Uni-bomber as the Sasquatch. And unless he comes back home, neither ain’t of no interest to me!
At the Desk This Week
I’ve finished episode 3 of Season 3 of the Green Ones! I spent a couple extra weeks looping back through the first few episodes in order to flesh out the characters more and ensure I was adequately living in their heads. The resulting changes have been fairly small, but will have a large effect on the believability and emotion of the story.
I’m really liking where everything is headed at this point. So now it’s time to dive into episodes 4 and 5 so I can get this season wrapped up and out there. I’m still investing heavily in my kids education at the same time as I’m balancing other real life stuff, so the writing will continue to come along more slowly than I would like, but I’m in a sustainable groove at this point.
I don’t have any special essays or insider information for you in regards to the Green Ones or the Schism 8 Universe this week. Sorry. I hope to be able to clean up the rules for my fictional game of Ōllamaliztli by next week. But I noticed a few conflicts with the text in my story and my rule sheet…so I gotta iron those out before I make the rules public!
If You Wish to Start Reading The Green Ones…
[Click here to start at the beginning.]
Thanks so much for taking the time to read these scenes of Boundaries, Season 2 of The Green Ones. I’ll be publishing FREE daily scenes from The Green Ones until…I die…or something terrible happens. Seriously, I’ve got over 100 scenes written so far, and I’ll be writing more until the story reaches its natural ending. You are totally welcome to read the entire story for FREE! If at any point you decide you would rather finish the story in ebook or print format, just click the buttons below and you can do that as well. If you enjoy reading the serial releases, BUT you would also like to support me as a writer (my kids need wine!) please subscribe to my premium content for bonus scenes, exclusives, and insider access to my process. And of course, I’d be grateful if you would share this post with any of your reader friends who you think would enjoy The Green Ones. Happy reading!